GOP Chair Pat Brady urged to resign after reportedly using gay slur

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE THAT SOME MAY FIND OFFENSIVE. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The folks at HillBuzz.org dropped a major bombshell this morning. They’re reporting that they have what they consider to be “unimpeachable sources” who say that Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady referred to the HillBuzz.org writers as a “bunch of fucking faggots.” That exact slur was reportedly uttered by Pat Brady – obviously in the presence of others – just this weekend.

For the record, it’s no secret that the writers at HillBuzz are gay men. They are quite honest about that and in fact they make reference to their lifestyle quite regularly in their writing. So at least they are honest about it – unlike some others high-up in the Illinois GOP hierarchy and unlike at least a couple of candidates running statewide right now on the GOP ticket. Pat Brady clearly has no problem with those gay men. It appears that Brady’s hatred and anger only come out when it’s gay men exposing his lack of leadership.

Pat Brady is no doubt upset that HillBuzz’s dogged coverage of a Cook County Republican Party sex-related scandal (that turned into a cover-up scandal) eventually got legs. The Huffington Post for example picked up on the story and published its own recap last week. And then on Friday some Democrat women held a press conference in Chicago to try and take full political advantage. Since few normal people know who Pat Brady is, the Democrats tried to tie-in GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady. That was probably an unfair stretch, but they did it anyway. NBC-5 Chicago weighed in with coverage.

I would agree that the Democrats were overreaching to tie the scandal to Bill Brady at this point, but that’s what happens when Republican officials choose not to deal with messes in their own yard. Let’s not kid ourselves – Republicans would do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot.

Because the Democrats kicked things up a notch with their Friday press conference, Pat Brady finally had to quit hiding in the weeds. Shortly after that press conference he issued a statement, basically saying the whole thing was nothing to begin with, and in any case everything had been taken care of. In other words, nothing happened, and even if it did, it won’t happen again because I say so.

So knowing Pat Brady, I’m not surprised that he would lose his cool about HillBuzz’s reporting on a growing scandal. In my experience, Brady is a hothead, and in fact he has a well documented history of resorting to even physical violence. That’s a proven fact and I told readers about it last year. The most disturbing story I referenced was reported on by multiple newspapers 15 years ago.

Assuming this latest story about Pat Brady using a gay slur is true, he’s gone as State GOP Chairman and as a member of the RNC. And yes, I do believe this latest story. I’ve found HillBuzz to be very credible, plus it just sounds to me like exactly something Pat Brady would do.

Everyone living in this 21st Century knows that you can’t use that ‘f’ word, especially in such a mean spirited manner. Pat Brady and the guy he’s been trying to protect, Cook County GOP Chairman Lee Roupas are up against some very determined foes. And it certainly looks like Brady and Roupas have themselves provided more than enough rope for the hanging.

I say good riddance, and hope Brady and Roupas don’t let the door hit them on their way out. I can think of better reasons they both should go, but if some activists (who just happen to be gay) are going to do more than most social conservatives to clean up the Illinois GOP, then so be it. I say kudos to them. The current scandal and bad behavior are reason enough to clean house.

And by the way folks, this is just one more reason why we need to pass Senate Bill 600. The members of the Illinois GOP’s State Central Committee are supposed to be providing some adult supervision – but they won’t until they are made accountable to ALL Illinois Republicans in real elections. What we see right now is just the latest demonstration of what happens when you have just a good-old-boy and good-old-gal club. Nothing gets done until the Democrats force action, like they did with their press conference on Friday.

You’ve got to read the latest excellent installment from HillBuzz.org yourself. That’s HERE. Below is just an excerpt (and please remind me not to get on the bad side of these HillBuzz guys). Again, reader discretion is advised – but I have to say, they make some excellent points. And it’s worth noting – the bad language is simply a function of Pat Brady’s reported behavior and nothing else:

So, if [State GOP Chair Pat] Brady wants to pull an Obama and blame this on anyone, he needs to look at Lee Roupas, not us.

And, while he is at it, if he wants to call anyone a “fucking faggot,” then Pat Brady needs to speak those words to Mark Kirk.

He is the absolute gayest man in any room he enters. He is the Republican Party’s Liberace. If anyone is a “fucking faggot,” to use Pat Brady’s own words, it is the closeted liar the GOP is running for the Senate in Illinois. A man who won’t come out because he’s using his reservist experience in the military as a crutch to get him elected, and admitting what a “fucking faggot” he is, to use Brady’s words, would mean he’d be discharged under DADT. This is all further complicated by the fact that hypocrite Kirk is AGAINST a repeal of DADT, when he is a gay man in uniform in the US military, actively speaking against allowing his fellow gay men and women to serve openly.

The GOP in Illinois is an absolute train wreck.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Today we begin a call for the immediate removal of Pat Brady as the Illinois GOP Chair.

We demand the removal of Lee Roupas as the Cook County GOP Chair, and the removal of “The Prophet” as the president of the Chicago Young Republicans organization.

Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.

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This entry was posted on August 1, 2010 at 4:47 PM and is filed under Ibendahl on Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.